Australian Antarctic Division: Leading Australia’s Antarctic Program

Casey science

One of the experimental chambers used in the Free Ocean Carbon Enrichment experiment in place on the sea floor of O’Brien Bay, attached to its duct (‘slinky’), which delivers carbon dioxide-enriched seawater from the surface. (Photo: AAD)

A large number of scientific programs are undertaken in and around Casey.

Since 2008 Casey station has been used as a base for the 'International Collaboration for Exploration of the Cryosphere through Aerogeophysical Profiling' (ICECAP) project. ICECAP is using airborne geophysical instruments (radar, laser, geomagnetic and gravity instruments) mounted in a Basler aircraft, to study the bedrock geology and structure of the East Antarctic ice sheet, and its glaciological processes.

Casey was also the site for a world-first underwater ocean acidification experiment in Antarctica. In 2014-15 marine scientists used custom-made, semi-enclosed chambers that sat on the sea floor, up to 20 m beneath the sea ice, to look at changes to polar seafloor communities exposed to different carbon dioxide concentrations. Read more about the Free Ocean Carbon Enrichment experiment in our science pages and the Australian Antarctic Magazine.

Adélie penguin research is also conducted at Casey, including through the use of remotely operated cameras (which are also set up in colonies near Davis and Mawson stations). The research is part of a long-term seabird monitoring program to better understand penguin behaviour, breeding success and the impact of predators, and to detect increases or decreases in penguin numbers as a result of environmental changes.

As extensive and well developed moss beds grow at and nearby Casey station, the region is often called the 'Daintree of Antarctica'. The mosses are like miniature old growth forests, as a single moss shoot may be over 100 years old. Scientists are currently studying the influence of climate change and human impacts on the Casey moss beds. This work includes dating and mapping moss beds using drones, and investigating the tolerance of different moss species to UV-B radiation (due to ozone depletion), as well as changes in wind speed and temperature.